


Stickers and glitter and flags, oh my!

by MashiarasDream



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bi!Dean, Fluff, M/M, Pride Parade, Shipper!Sam, Sometime in the future, ace!cas, but canonverse, happy canonverse - what is this witchery?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-10
Updated: 2016-07-10
Packaged: 2018-07-22 19:29:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7451281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MashiarasDream/pseuds/MashiarasDream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Cas stumble upon a Pride Parade. There’s stickers and glitter and flags and a question about being boyfriends. (In other words: this is pretty much just fluff.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stickers and glitter and flags, oh my!

**Author's Note:**

> [Bookkbaby’s photo op with the pride flags](https://bookkbaby.tumblr.com/post/145914677405/this-was-a-pretty-amazing-experience-i-was-the) was so fucking cute and it was Pride Weekend in my town this weekend and I just wanted to write some cute fluffy thing even though no angst is not my thing and I kind of suck at it.
> 
> As usual, much love to my betareader ViviTargaryen! <3

The first time they go to Pride, they stumble upon it.

“Hey look, there’s a parade!” Sam hardly finishes signing before he grabs Eileen’s hand and drags her towards the commotion, leaving Cas and Dean to scramble after them.

Which they do, if a bit awkwardly.

Dean side-eyes Cas, who looks around with wide eyes, his head tilted at an angle that Dean refuses to find adorable. Every so often, Cas randomly stops, mesmerized by the rainbow colors and the sheer amount of glitter on everyone.

Dean tries to look out for him, but the throng of people gets tighter the further towards the actual parade they get. Dean is distracted for a moment, checking out a group of burly leather-clad bears, and when he turns back, Cas is gone.

Dean’s heart stops and then it starts beating too rapidly but he forces himself to turn in a slow circle and look for the most likely direction Cas can have taken of in. It’s never quite clear how Cas will react to a group this large. Sometimes he’s completely fine, sometimes he gets distracted and wanders and gets lost. Dean really doesn’t want to have to save him from the clutches of a kink group who like his bed head and wide blue eyes just as much as Dean does.

“Fuck,” Dean mutters.

“Fuck me?” A glittery guy with angel wings attached to his naked upper body grins at Dean.

“Sorry, dude,” Dean waves him off, even though he possibly stares a moment too long at the guy’s perky nipples, “I’m here with someone.”

“Pity,” the guy smirks and dusts a handful of glitter into Dean’s hair.

Awesome. Just awesome.

Dean shakes as much of the glitter off as he can but it’s a lost cause. Only a shower will help with that. He tries Cas cellphone, which – obviously – is turned off. Because Cas never remembers that cellphones are important.

Then Dean catches a glimpse of movement and color and on a hunch, he follows it. And breathes a sigh of relief when he spots Cas.

He shoves his way through to him where he’s standing rooted to the spot, awe on his face.

There’s a bend in the street here and Cas’ spot has a good view of the parade, which is where the color and movement were coming from. It’s a group with large flags, led by three rainbow flags and then branching out into every pride flag imaginable.

Cas is staring at the display, so instead of breaking his concentration by talking to him, Dean smuggles his hand into Cas’. This way, he’s not going to lose him again, and he guesses that if there’s any place where it’s not going to attract undue notice that he’s holding Cas’ hand, it’s here.

The parade seems to have stopped for a moment, there is no forward movement, though the group with the flags has a choreography they’re doing. It’s actually quite pretty to watch.

“There’s so many of them.” Cas’ voice is reverent.

Dean shrugs. “There’s many flavors to what humans like.”

“Explain their meaning to me!” Cas demands without taking his eyes from the swirls of color.

“Uhhh,” Dean stutters. “Honestly, Cas, I don’t even know half of these flags.”

“Then explain the ones you know!”

“Umm, okay. You know the rainbow flag, right?”

“Yes,” Cas nods. “Love is love.”

“Right,” Dean nods because of course Cas remembers the Doma ruling. “Well, the ones behind it are more specific. See the blue, purple and pink one? That one means that you bat for both teams.”

Cas nods and states matter-of-factly, “Like you.”

Dean is pretty sure he’s flushing crimson but there is this whole knowing every molecule of Dean’s soul business, so denial tends to be useless with Cas, which is why Dean nods and mutters a vague, “or something,” before quickly moving on to the next flag. “The one with the blue and the pink and the white in the middle is not for orientation. It stands for when the gender you have doesn’t fit the one you were assigned at birth.”

Cas hums thoughtfully, the concept of gender something that Dean knows is sometimes hard to grasp in its nuances for the ex-angel, even though his equipment is fully male now that he’s human.

“There’s also one that stands for not falling into the binary norm, but I honestly don’t remember which one that was,” Dean says. It’s not like Dean spends all his time researching pride flags. Though he probably spends a larger amount of time on queer websites than he’ll ever be ready to admit out loud. “Ah, but I know this one.” He points towards the purple, white, grey and black flag. “That one’s for being asexual. You know what that is?” he asks Cas.

“Yes, Cas confirms, eyes still on the flag. “It’s when you are like me.”

“Uhh, okay,” Dean says intelligently, even though he guesses it doesn’t surprise him much. Even if he’s got his moments where he wishes Cas would see things differently. But then, he reminds himself, having Cas in his life, having him safe and close, is more happiness than he’s thought he could reach. So he squeezes Cas’ hand and smiles at him. “Yeah, you’re aces, man.”

Cas rolls his eyes but the parade comes back to life at this moment, the flag bearers moving forward, so Dean and Cas watch the different groups go by. Some have floats, others walk. Dean’s heart constricts when the youth group of the local lesbian community center walks by, cause they have a red head in their middle and Dean’s insides burn with the knowledge that Charlie will never take part in a Pride Parade again. Cas squeezes his hand tightly. He can’t read Dean’s thoughts anymore, but Dean would bet Cas knows what he’s thinking anyway.

Towards the end of the parade, the groups get sparse and it’s more and more random people who are walking and dancing behind the floats.

Cas smiles at them and then looks up at him. “Do you want to join them?”

“What?” Dean asks surprised.

“Do you want to join?” Cas patiently repeats his question.

Dean stares at him dumbfounded, “But we’re not…” The sentence tapers off.

Cas looks at him with raised eyebrows. “We have flags. You’re holding my hand. I think we have every right to join.”

“But…” _But we’re not actually together. We’re not out. Sammy is somewhere out there. And I’ve never been proud of who I am._ Dean swallows hard when he gets to that last argument. “Yeah, okay,” he nods instead of stating the argument. “Yeah, okay, we can do that.”

Cas smiles in that quiet, earnest way that he smiles in and tugs him along.

There is something freeing about moving with the crowd instead of being stuck in place. It still feels strange but it’s definitely better.

Someone plonks a sticker on Dean’s chest. It says ‘it’s okay to be gay’ and Cas frowns at it because, “He’s bi”.

“Yeah, but it’s still okay to be gay,” the guy doling out the stickers points out and then slaps an ‘out and proud’ sticker on Cas’ chest before moving on.

Dean chuckles when Cas tries to tilt his head far enough to get a good look at the sticker but gets distracted when a young girl in a rainbow dress presses a balloon into Dean’s hand. “You two are cute,” she says and runs back to a group of rainbow families.

“Not cute,” Dean mutters but he laces his fingers through Cas’ even though it’s pretty clear that his former excuse of not losing Cas in the crowd cannot justify his decision to press their palms together.

Cas doesn’t object to the next level hand-holding but he stares at the balloon like it is personally offending him. Dean chuckles and does the only thing he can think of. He hands the balloon to Cas.

Cas is cautious at first but the balloon tugs at its string and bounces in the air and suddenly the glare softens into a smile. Yeah, Cas looks happy and at ease in this crowd of colorful people. It relaxes Dean enough that he falls in step next to him, suddenly glad about the sticker on his chest and their balloon and even the glitter in his hair. All signs that they belong here, that even with Dean’s plaid and Cas’ slacks, people accept them as part of the crowd.

It makes Dean inadvertently happy.

So he hums along to the music and watches the people lining the street and laughs his way through a few good-natured flirtations. It’s not until they come to the end point of the parade, where the groups disperse, that he notices that Cas is not looking at the crowd anymore. He’s staring at Dean instead, head tilted to the side, like he’s trying to puzzle him out.

Dean feels the heat creeping up his neck, embarrassment immediately taking hold. Cause Cas definitely caught him enjoying himself when Dean was supposed to be doing this for Cas, not because he liked it.

“Dean?” Cas asks.

“Hmm?” Dean asks back and risks a glance towards Cas.

“I’m proud of you.”

“What?”

“I know you aren’t. But I am. Proud of you.”

Dean probably flushes an even brighter red at that, but they’re standing in a swirling mass of joyful humans and Cas has pressed forward into Dean’s personal space like he’s prone to do, and Dean doesn’t have it in him to evade. So he mutters a “thanks, Cas” and leans forward to press a quick kiss to Cas’ cheek. It’s sappy and not anything he’d usually do, but hey, it’s Cas. And Dean _is_ thankful. “Not only thanks for saying that, but also for, you know, everything.”

He stumbles over the words but they seem to mean something to Cas anyway, because he lets go of Dean’s hand and instead wraps his arms around Dean’s torso. His balloon gets loose in the process and floats up into the air, but Cas makes no move to catch it. Instead, he buries his face in the nape of Dean’s neck, and Dean has little choice but to wrap his arms around Cas in return.

And that’s how Sam and Eileen find them.

“Dude, we were looking for you everywhere, we –“, Sam starts but stops when he sees their position.

Eileen grins brightly and signs something at Sam that is too fast for Dean to catch.

“Sam, tell your girlfriend to slow down.”

“Tell her yourself,” Sam bitches back.

“Yeah, not right this second,” Dean mutters and draws Cas tighter against himself. “What’d she say?”

Eileen chuckles even before Sam translates Dean’s words for her. “I said,” she enunciates slowly and clearly, “I think the idiots got it now. Am I wrong?”

Cas straightens up and away from Dean at the words, the insinuation in them clear. Dean’s heart plummet but he lets go of him.

Cas looks over at Eileen who smiles at him oblivious, and then back at Dean. He pats Dean’s chest to get his attention and when Dean looks at him, he points at himself and then Dean and brings up his right hand in front of his forehead to let his fingers snap shut there once before bringing both hands in front of him, crossing his index fingers twice like he’s crossing swords with himself.

Dean remembers the sign from their classes but he still asks a stunned, “What?”

“Dean, it’s rude not to talk in a language that everyone understands,” Cas chastises.

“But that – that sounded like…” Dean is too hung up on what Cas signed to remember any of his own signs.

Sam groans, “Dude, he asked you whether you want to be boyfriends. Just say yes. Cause you know, it’s okay to be gay”, he quotes the sticker on Dean’s chest. “Seriously. Just say yes already. The eye-fucking has really gone on long enough.”

“Asshole,” Dean mutters.

“Dean?” There’s a nervousness in Cas’ voice that hadn’t been there before.

And well, the joke’s on Dean but it really isn’t all that funny.

“Can we do this without them?” Dean asks and waves in the direction of Sam and Eileen. This is bad enough, he really could do without the comments from the peanut gallery.

“Getting the hint loud and clear,” Sam says and simultaneously signs. Not the same content as his words, if Dean’s incomplete knowledge is not tricking him. “Meet you at the car later. Just give us a ring.”

Dean mumbles something noncommittal and Sam and Eileen get swept up by the masses.

When he looks back at Cas, Cas stares at him. But it’s not the same as the _eye-fucking_ Sam was referring to. Instead, Cas observes his every move like he’d watch a monster before they take it out.

“I don’t bite, Cas,” Dean grumbles.

He grabs Cas’ hand and drags him over to a corner where it’s a bit more quiet.

“You’re ace!” It comes out half as an accusation and Cas immediately hunches his shoulders.

“Yes.” The answer is so low it almost doesn’t make it over the thrum of the music that permeates everything.

“Then why…” Dean stops and starts anew because his tone is coming out as aggressive again. He runs a hand through his hair and sighs. “Why are you asking me shit like that, Cas? Why are you fucking with me? You’ve been in my head often enough to know that…” That there’s feelings and that it hurts when they’re being mocked. “Come on, man, you’re my best friend. Don’t do shit like that to me.”

“You’re my best friend, too,” Cas replies quietly.

“Yeah, I know,” Dean sighs, already ready to forgive Cas because really, making a bad joke is not a big thing on the list of things they’ve done to each other. “So we’re good?”

“No!” Cas says, voice suddenly frantic, and grabs Dean’s sleeve when he wants to turn away. “No, Dean, I meant it!”

“What?” Dean turns back to Cas slowly.

“Dean, I – I meant it. I mean I know you – you don’t do relationships. And definitely not relationships with someone who probably doesn’t want to – but I meant it. You don’t need to – but I need you to know this.” He shakes Dean’s arm for emphasis.

“Hey, everything alright between you two?” A burly looking woman with a military style haircut interjects.

Dean sizes her up quickly and decides that she looks like she can beat both their asses. “Yes, Ma’am, we’re good.”

She snorts at the ‘Ma’am’ but she nods. “Play nice, boys. It’s a day for love not bruises. Unless you’re into that kind of thing.” She winks at them and is gone.

Dean shakes his head because he can’t believe she’s said that. Then he turns back to Cas who has let go off Dean’s arm.

It’s weird sometimes, incongruent, Dean’s picture of Cas. Here he is, squinting at Dean like a lost bird, and yet – Dean remembers sparks and all powerful voice and he knows that the creature he met in that barn that day is also still inside Cas. The angelic powers themselves might be gone, but the warrior is still there.

“You meant it?” Dean asks because he has to.

“I meant it,” Cas confirms, voice clipped.

“So what does that – what would you want?” he asks back because Dean’s not done many relationships in his life and he’s pretty sure Cas had absolutely none. And until a minute ago Dean had been sure that Cas wanted to keep it that way.

Cas squints at him confused.

“I mean,” Dean clarifies, “how does a relationship look like to you? It’s not like I’ve ever been with an angel.”

Cas seems lost for words. “Does that mean, you’d – consider it?”

Dean can hardly hold back a chuckle. “You’ve been in my head, dude. You’ve been in my dreams. Pretty sure that should give you a clue.”

“Yes, but that’s…,” Cas breaks off to start anew. “That’s a version of me who is – hot. And who knows how to get you, umm, off.” He breaks off again.

“Yeah,” Dean nods because denying won’t help. He comes a step closer to Cas, presses into his personal space again. “Pretty sure every version of you is hot. But that dude in my dreams is not my favorite Cas. You are.”

That brings Cas up short apparently because he squints at Dean some more. It’s kind of comical from this close, but it also warms something in Dean’s gut.

“Hey, Cas?” he asks.

“Yes, Dean?”

“Not sure if you’ve noticed, but it’s been a few years since I’ve had my last hookup.”

Dean lets Cas work out the math on his own. Only when Cas’ face clears up, a hesitant smile on his lips when he figures out that it’s been pretty much at the latest since Purgatory that the frequency of Dean’s one-night-stands has dropped off and that Dean hasn’t complained about the lack of sex over the whole time, does he go on.

“I’m okay with what we have, Cas,” he says and means it. “I’m glad I have you in my life. You don’t have to give me more than what you’re already giving me.”

“But if I wanted to kiss you?” Cas asks.

“Then I’d not be against trying out whether we like it.”

Cas smiles, cautiously, but they’re already so far in each other’s space that it really doesn’t take much. Dean leans forward a bit and Cas leans forward a bit, and then their hands find each other and then they’re kissing.

It’s really no more than a brush of skin on skin. But it makes butterflies tumble in Dean’s stomach that he’s entirely unaccustomed to.

Cas licks his lips as if he’s trying to decide whether this is something he’d like to do again but before Dean can ask him, he leans in again.

This time, it’s longer. Dean brings one of his hands up to Cas’ neck, holding them steady. But otherwise he lets Cas set the pace. Cas keeps it slow and innocent, and yet the kiss, too, warms Dean from the inside out.

When they finally break apart, Cas’ voice is determined. “I’d like to be your boyfriend, Dean. I’d like to hold hands with you and kiss you and hold you close and wake up in the same bed with you and make you breakfast.”

“So that’s how a relationship looks like to an angel?” Dean smiles.

“Yes,” Cas confirms.

“Okay,” Dean nods.

“Okay?” Cas asks.

“Okay,” Dean smiles and draws Cas in for another kiss.

 

The next year, it’s not an accident when they find the parade, in the opposite. It takes half an hour or so to get comfortable, but then Dean wears the bisexual pride flag around his shoulders with pride. He squeezes Cas’ hand, who's got the asexual flag slung tightly around himself, the motion sparking an even greater pride in Dean because he likes it that everyone can see that he’s together with the best guy – angel – out there.


End file.
